


Different Picture

by Excusememeprincess



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Eventual Smut, I'm slowly deciding on what this relationship will end as, John is adorable, M/M, Multi, My friend loves this so I mean maybe I should post it, Slow Burn, its a fucking Train wreck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 18:42:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9671231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excusememeprincess/pseuds/Excusememeprincess
Summary: Karkat is a popular high school senior who has many rumors about him. Mostly about how he's gotten with pretty much every junior and senior at school. Dave is good at forging signatures, and offers to help Karkat get out of trouble when caught skipping class. In exchange, he makes a deal with Karkat to help him become popular and hopefully, help him get with his crush since middle school, John Egbert.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This probably fucking sucks but I hope you like it as much as my friend does. Also, I'm still homestuck garbage ever since middle school. When can I fucking leave this goddamn hell.

          First day of senior year of high school and you look around at all of these kids you've known your entire life and ask yourself what happened. People calling each other sluts, whores, fags, fat, other stupid shit. Normal high school every one is used to right? You don't find yourself in any cliche category, honestly people just see you as fucking weird.   
  You hear someone badly whisper to their friend as you walk to your locker. "Why does Dave still wear shades it was understandable freshmen year but he's a senior now."   
   Yeah see, prime example right there. Weird kid who wears shades indoors. However, You have heard a lot of people call you attractive which you don't mind at all. You're not a jock, even though Dirk and Bro would get a good laugh out of how ironic that would be. You're not popular and you're not a loser, but you're still here in high school. You know a few people in different categories. Mostly book nerds like your sister, Rose, and your friend Jade has been called a furry way too many times to count. She doesn't mind though and you honestly don't see why anyone would. Of course there are your classic popular girls who would ask for things in exchange for giving you cheap sex or a handjob. Pretty normal right? High school in general. However, we dont have a really popular girl at school. We have a really popular boy. Who's name is Karkat Vantas. Why is he popular, you have no idea. You'd think he'd be the lamest kid in school. He's short as hell, a drama kid, gay, hot. Ok yeah he's as hot as a barbeque cookout in satans fiery asshole. The only thing making him popular is the fact of how hot he is and that he's basically one of the popular girls that gives out cheap sex. He does it for money and clothes based off of the rumors you've heard. Word is that he's fucked every gay person in this school (besides you) and owns a piece of their clothing and thats what he wears. But you know, high school rumors aren't always accurate. You get your books out of your locker and walk to your next class. As soon as you walk through the door, you spot the empty seat next to your best friend, John Egbert, and sit down. You've been friends since the beginning of middle school, and ever since freshman year you've sort of had a crush on him. He claims he's straight which you pray to Jesus Christ himself he isn't. Yet you still haven't said anything to him since you guys are like best bros and you wouldn't want to make anything awkward. You thought you got over him, but the way he smiles at you when you sit down next to him makes you toss that idea out into the trashcan like a box of two month old crusty ass takeout. You smile a little back at him and start drawing your (not gonna lie) hilarious comics as the teacher calls roll. Teachers don't even ask about your aviators anymore which is a relief. You got pretty damn tired of repeating yourself every year. You've only told them about how your eyes are sensitive to light but no one has ever seen the freakish red color of your eyes. Only your own family, not even John. Which you're okay with, he really doesn't need to know.   
You add the finishing touches to your comic and fold it a couple of times. You slide it over to John and he cautiously unfolds the paper. He giggles behind his hand and mutters a "thanks Dave."   
Your face flushes red and you divert your attention to the worksheet that was passed out just now. Problems answered, and some skipped. More problems become skipped than answered, frustrating you as time goes by. You sigh and glance over at John who's already on the back of the page. His tongue sticking out as he concentrates. Which makes you want to bang your head on the table repeatedly because he's being really fucking cute. You become impatient with how slow class is and it's only first period. You shake your restless leg and watch the clock with your face resting in your hand. There's still thirty minutes to go. You guess you can pass time by going to the bathroom. At least you aren't sitting down in a boring classroom. You raise your hand.   
"Hey man can I use the restroom."   
The teacher apparently likes to be a smart ass and says.  
"I don't know can you?"  
You stare blankly at him behind your shades completely expressionless. He then coughs awkwardly and tells you to grab the hall pass. You grab the plastic pass hanging on the wall and make your way to the disgusting excuse of a bathroom. When you finally arrive (since you always go to the farthest restroom possible to kill more time) You hear something behind the door. You can't tell what it is, but when you open the door it's honestly not a surprise to you. You see the one and only Karkat Vantas. Pretty much leader of the school, making out with a kid with black hair and 3D looking glasses propped on top of his head. Karkat's hands are already up his shirt as he pins the other high schooler against the counter, forcing him to get on top of it without falling into one of the sinks. You begin to back away figuring that you shouldn't get involved. Too late. His eyes shift to look at you and he backs away and bites the kid's lip as he breaks contact. He's barely out of breath while the probably junior or senior is panting on top of the counter with his eyes wide. Karkat nods him towards the door and he jumps off of the counter, leaving frantically.   
"What the fuck are you doing here." He says louder than a normal human being.   
"Just wanna take a piss." You shrug. "Is that not what a bathroom is for. Clearly you don't use it for that reason."   
"I forgot my lunch money asshole." He says holding up a five dollar bill between his fingers. "I had to make money somehow."   
He shoves the bill into his pocket and looks at his phone. "Fuck." He mutters. "First hour is almost over."   
You smirk as an idea comes to your head.   
"You know." You start. "I could go and tell the office that you're skipping class and being an I don't know....prostitute."  
Karkat rolls his eyes and rests a hand on his hip.   
"Continue fuckass."   
"Or I could give you this fake hall pass." You say perfectly forging the office signature on a blank hall pass and handing it out in front of him. "In exchange of letting me sit with you at lunch. Just to make me become a possibly cooler kid than I already am."   
He takes the pass from you and scans it over.  
"Wow douche bag I have to say.. this is excellent forgery." He says raising a perfect eyebrow.   
"How did you learn how to do something like this."  
"Two brothers and ones a huge asshole. Someone's gotta sign forms." You shrug.   
"Alright...."  
"Dave Strider."  
"Strider." Karkat confirms. "I'll take you up on your offer but I'm going to have to make some uh.." he says looking at you up and down. "Changes."   
You raise an eyebrow at this statement.  
"Meet me outside this bathroom third hour not second. Second hour is drama class."   
He says brushing by you and exiting the door.   
You watch him walk down the hallway with a sway to his hips as he looks down at his phone the whole way. The hallway echoes with the sound of him blowing and popping his bubblegum loudly. You look at your phone and notice you've been out of class for nearly ten minutes. Whatever, you'll just say that most of the bathrooms were locked so you had to find one open. It's the first day, no one gives a shit. 

"Karkat Vantas!" John exclaims as you talk about your encounter in the bathroom. John begins to walk backwards facing you as you both go to second hour.  
"Why are you going to hang out with him at lunch!" He says folding his arms and scowling.   
You shrug. "I don't know it will make me cooler."  
"But you're already cool Dave!" John whines. "Plus Karkat is kind of a bitch."   
"Watch out man you're gonna trip."   
John sighs and walks forwards again, drifting next to you.   
"I just don't think it's a good idea." He mutters.   
"It's just until I'm cooler " You reply elbowing him playfully in the rib making him giggle.   
"What's the worst that can happen?"  
"You might turn into a douche." John replies. "You already look like one you don't need to act like one too." He laughs. "I'm kidding."   
"Fuck you John I'm going to class now." You smile at him receiving a dorky grin in return.  
You turn into the classroom as he keeps walking forward to his class. 

Time in second period couldn't go by any slower. It's unbearable. You turn back to scribbling comics in your notebook. The math seemed pretty easy until you looked up again and it became a fucking scientific equation for NASA. You decide to just copy it all and look back at it later. You spend the rest of the period staring at the clock for the time to go by. As soon as it hits fifteen minutes of class left, you start to feel worried. You have to meet up with Karkat during third period and you're honestly kind of nervous. You keep your cool anyway since you refuse to break it. The bell rings and the feeling is back. Your stomach drops and you feel as if you're going to throw up. You push it all aside to the best of your abilities, and pick up your walking speed as you exit the classroom. You swerve around the other kids and push shoulders, as you maneuver around high schoolers going to their next period. You find your way to the bathroom you met at and find him standing by the door, looking down at his phone. Ok Strider play it cool. 

"Sup." That was worse than anything else you could have said.   
Karkat raises a thick shaped eyebrow and glances up slightly from his phone. He sighs and shoves his phone in his back pocket, motioning you to follow him into the bathroom. You stand in front of each other in front of the bathroom stalls while he waits with his arms crossed. The bell rings for the next period.   
"Okay look I'm going to help you but first we need to fix this." He eyes you up and down. "Situation and we need all day to do it."   
You shrug. He rolls his eyes. "At least say thank you or show some sort of appreciation fuck train."   
You keep eye contact with him and don't say anything. You're not sure what to say.   
"God your shades really freak me the fuck out let's just go." He says dragging you out the door. 

 

Before you know it, you're standing outside of Karkat's car. It's a simple car that isn't cheap where it can barely run but it isn't expensive. More of a "you can barely drive so if you fuck it up its not a big deal."   
"Get in the crab mobile."   
"What?" You ask confused.   
"Never mind its an inside joke." He says running a hand through his hair. "Get in the car." You both sit in the car in silence for a bit before Karkat speaks up again. "Can we go to your house?" He asks.  
"Unless your parents are home and they can't know you're skipping school."   
You run a hand through your hair. "Well uh I kinda don't have parents."   
"You what."   
"I don't have parents I have two brothers and the oldest one takes care of me and my brother Dirk."  
"Do they care if you skip school."   
"They don't give a shit." You say adjusting your shades. You shift your eyes to look at Karkat, who shrugs it off and starts the car.   
"Lead the way douchebag."   
You direct Karkat to your apartment and lead the way up the stairs. He awkwardly shuffles behind you in the cramp hallway and waits impatiently while you fumble with the keys. You shove the correct key in the lock and push hard against the stuck door. Practically falling in, you enter the living room and throw your keys on the counter. Karkat follows, still blowing his bubble gum and stepping around empty bags of Doritos and various different puppets.   
"I promise there's no puppets in my room." You sigh in annoyance.   
"Your apartment is." Karkat pauses. "It's fine."   
You scoff a laugh and walk into the kitchen. "Don't humor me you can say it sucks ass." You open up the fridge and swords fall out.   
"Dammit!" You shout making Karkat jump. "Dirk did you leave your shit in here!" You yell across the apartment.   
"Bro leaves his shit everywhere blame him for everything I'm busy right now." Dirk yells from his room.   
"Sorry about that." You say running a hand through your hair. "What did you want to do?"   
Karkat looks around the room. Taking in the swords and puppet scattered everywhere. He pauses and stares at the tv playing an anime called Madoka Magica, which sits in front of a couch covered in even more puppets and trash. Karkat looks back at you and snaps out of it.   
"Okay I'm supposed to be helping you right?" He says putting his hands on his hips. "Then I demand to see your entire wardrobe."   
Reluctantly, you lead him to your bedroom not too far from the living room. It's right across from your brother's room and you hear an English accent say your brother's name in a laugh.   
"Gross." You mutter. Actually, you wish you were Dirk with a nerdy boyfriend. You pause at your door flustered.   
"What's going on fuck train?" Karkat says folding his arms.   
You look back at Karkat and shake your head, pushing against your door to get in. "'Nothing."  
You take a seat on your bed as Karkat goes through your dresser.   
"Yikes. Garbage. Stupid." He says throwing your clothes on the floor. He grabs a red varsity jacket with white sleeves and a S on it and throws it at you. "You can keep this put it on over your stupid record shirt you're wearing."  
He takes a yellow Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff shirt out of your dresser and holds it up while turning towards you. "What the fuck is this monstrosity."   
"My merchandise of my own comic." You reply grinning.  
"It fucking sucks and also the most hideous shirt design I've seen." He pauses. "Keep it as pajamas. He says throwing it at you. "It suits you." He says smirking. Karkat turns back to his sorting and you flop down on your bed. You turn your head to look at the wall your bed is against. It's covered in polaroid pictures you like to take occasionally. Most of them are of you and John and some of them are just of John. He tells you to stop taking pictures of him when he laughs, but you can't help it. You keep them just to make him mad, and they make you smile a bit. You especially like the ones where you can see his blue braces, rather the ones where he covers his mouth while laughing. You're still staring at the pictures and you don't even realize Karkat is sitting on the edge of your bed looking at you until he speaks up.   
"Is that your boyfriend?"   
You jump and scramble to sit up on the bed.   
"No he's not." You say flustered. "Best friend."   
Karkat seemed relieved when you told him this?   
"Oh okay." He replies. "Anyway your clothes are pretty much all garbage and we are going shopping let's go."   
Karkat grins and leaves your bedroom. You sigh and glance once more at your wall of photos. You rub your eyes under your shades and grab the red varsity jacket on your bed. Standing up, you pull on the jacket and take your phone out of your pocket. Turning it on, you notice a lot of missed messages. Mainly from John asking where you are right now. You shut off your phone and put it back in your pocket.  
"Hurry up jackass we don't have all day!" Karkat yells from the living room.   
"Hold on."   
You hear Karkat groan way over dramatic. He's in drama for a reason.   
You close your bedroom door on the way out and yell against Dirk's bedroom door. "I'm going out I'll be back in a few hours."  
"Yeah whatever don't." He gets cut off for a moment and manages to gasp out. "Come back too late" afterwards. You roll your eyes and grab the keys on the counter on the way out. Karkat follows and attempts to shut the door behind him. It doesn't latch and he looks at you in annoyance.   
"Just slam it."   
He sighs and takes a huge slam at the door. You swear you hear the wall above it crack. You lock the door real quick and continue to walk down the hallway steps. Soon you are back at the "crab mobile." 

\------------------------------------------  
You're forcefully being dragged around the mall by the school's official whore. Honestly he seemed different in the car and at your apartment. However, as soon as you both hit the mall, he was back to his loudmouth bitchy self.   
"Ok try on this. And this. Oh and this." Karkat says piling clothes on top of you.   
"If it looks good do I really have to try it on." You reply.   
"Oh jesus fuck no!" He snaps and faces you. "You don't know if it looks good on you! God I'm shopping with an actual idiot." Karkat pushes you towards the dressing rooms and shoves you in with one of those number cards.   
"Now I won't come in but I will if I have to." He yells against the door. "Also you have to come out and show me every single outfit I arranged."   
"You're so difficult." You groan.   
"Whatever not my problem hurry up."   
You put on the first outfit he arranged. It's just black jeans and a red plaid button up. You step out and Karkat instantly shakes his head no. "This looks like you shop at hot topic and listen to twenty one pilots it's definitely not your style. He takes a seat in one of those waiting chairs and thinks for a moment.   
"Look the shades gotta go." He tries to reason  
"My eyes are sensitive to the light." Which is partially true. Honestly indoor lighting doesn't irritate your eyes that much.   
He sighs. "Fine just go back in and try something else on."   
Outfit after outfit and nearly every single one of them is a no. Frustrated, you go back in and put something else on. You put on the shirt you picked out, a Gorillaz band t-shirt, and ripped blue jeans. You pull on a black jacket with a record patch and step outside. Karkat hesitates for a moment.  
"Turn around." He says motioning you with his finger to turn. You turn around and he tells you to pull up your jeans more.   
"Did you give me girl jeans." You ask, confused by how uncomfortable they are.  
"Yeah they make your ass look better, turn back around." He stares at you for a little while longer. "Take your shades off." He demands. "You can close your eyes if you want."  
"Fine." You pull your shades off but keep your eyes shut.  
"Wow I never noticed you had freckles." Karkat says. "That's good don't worry." He pauses. "Have you ever considered wearing makeup."  
"I'm not against it." You shrug.   
"Ok good I'll teach you how to do your eyebrows." He replies. "Okay that's all you can put the douchey glasses back on." You shove on your glasses and grab the clothes from the dressing room. "So what are we keeping?"   
"All of it." Karkat says looking down at his phone.  
"What." You ask. "I thought you didn't like some of it."  
"Well yeah with the outfits you wore them with." He replies. "I know they will look good arranged differently."   
You hear him mutter something under his breath, but you barely make it out. Something along the lines of it just looking good on you, but you bet it's him saying something sarcastic.   
You pull out your phone and check your notifications as you walk over to check out. You place them on the counter and Karkat insists to take care of it. While he pays, you read each text through the notification tab without actually opening them. They are all from John. 

Nerd 10:37 am: Dave did you cut school? Where are you?? 

Nerd 11:00 am: Are you okay? Are you with Karkat?? 

Nerd 11:10 am: I knew he was bad news I don't think it's a good idea Dave 

Nerd 11:28 am: You always answer your phone I'm getting worried. 

Nerd 12:07 pm: it's lunch and you're not even here I thought that was the whole thing you were talking about!! 

Nerd 12:34 pm: you're not ignoring me are you? :B 

Nerd 1:00 pm: Ill just message you after school okay please respond :B 

You smile a bit for knowing how much he cares about you. You reply with "I'm okay." And he instantly starts typing back.

You 2:13 pm: I'm okay.   
Nerd 2:14 pm: oh thank god!! I was so worried! I thought you died or something.   
You 2:15 pm: haha I'm good. I gtg I'll talk to you later.   
Nerd 2:15 pm: :B 

You shut off your phone and shove it in your pocket by the time Karkat returns with 4 bags. He shoves them in your hands and you both leave the store, making your way to the parking lot on the other side of the mall. Karkat stops and buys a Dr Pepper from the vending machine for a moment and also asks what you want. You pause for a moment considering Dr Pepper as well, but you say Pepsi instead. Karkat tosses it to you, which makes your life flash before your eyes while you actually catch it.   
"How do you have all of this money holy shit." You ask while you both continue to walk to the parking lot.   
"Think back to this morning shit head." Karkat says taking a drink from his soda.  
"So you're a full time prostitute."  
"Shut the fuck up." Karkat snaps. "Only at school." He mutters. "And I'm not a prostitute."  
"Do you fuck people for money."   
No response.   
"Yeah you're a prostitute." You snicker.   
"That's none of your business." He says through clenched teeth. "Look I'm just going to make people think you're cool I'm not making you a prostitute."   
"Alright." You laugh. 

 

\------------------------------------------  
After hours and hours of Karkat deciding what makeup to buy you at a store on the way to the parking lot. Then going out to a few more places on the way home. He finally drops you off at your apartment, gives you a slip of paper, and drives away. You stand on the sidewalk and watch him drive off. You open up the slip of paper and use the yellow light of a street lamp to read it. It's a cell phone number. You put the piece of paper in your phone's phone case, like what you do with money, and shove your phone back in your pocket. Walking up the steps of the hallway building up to your apartment, you pull out your keys out of your back pocket and unlock the door. Using your body to push open the door, and practically falling in like usual, you throw your keys on a side table. Using your back to shut the door behind you, you sigh against the door for a moment in exhaustion. You find Dirk sitting on the couch with his boyfriend, Jake, asleep against his side hugging him. Dirk is still watching Madoka Magica while playing with Jake's hair.   
"Hey I'm home."   
"Woah man what's with all the bags." Dirk says quietly.   
"One of my friends insisted I got a new wardrobe or whatever."   
"Ain't that kinda shitty."  
You shrug. Jake rubs his eyes and takes his glasses off of the coffee table to put them back on.  
"Woah did I fall asleep?" Jake says still half asleep.   
"Yeah it's fine." Dirk replies.   
Jake realizes what happened and apologizes immediately. "Oh goodness did I fall asleep through your Japanese cartoons again! I'm so sorry Dirk I'll make it up to you."   
"Okay how." Dirk smirks.  
"I don't know. Why are you smiling like that?" Jake asks completely clueless. Dirk sighs.   
"Alright you guys I'm going in my room." You interrupt and head for your room. Throwing your bags on your floor, you shut the door behind you and collapse on your messy bed. You pull out your phone and take out the piece of paper to add a contact. You decide to make his contact name just Karkat for now and you add in the number. You pause when you click on the empty chat bar and look over at your wall of photos. You exit out of the blank chat with Karkat. 

To Nerd 7:26 pm: Hey im back from hell itself. 

From Nerd 7:28 pm: oh man dude what happened. 

To Nerd 7:29 pm: nothing much just a shit ton of being dragged around by the school whore.

From Nerd 7:30 pm: Karkat?????? :O 

To Nerd 7:31 pm: yeah ya dork 

From Nerd 7:31 pm: I hope it wasn't awful! :B 

To Nerd 7:36 pm: It wasn't too bad. Besides the actual equivalent pain of a family of 4 going to fucking Disneyland as a family vacation and spending two goddamn days to walk around both parks as every single fucking kid drags them to every ride and store without any fucking breaks. Like you haven't spent years already in the lines to each ride. We built houses in those lines. Just to keep our feet from literally bleeding. And In the end you still gotta walk to your car all the way at the end of the parking lot. Wanting to actually die. 

From Nerd 7:38 pm: wow hahaha sounds awful! :B I missed you 

You hesitate over that text. He always sends texts like that. You know he doesn't mean anything more than bros. They do still catch you off guard though. God he's so embarrassingly cute.

To Nerd 7:40 pm: honestly dude after being dragged around like one of those kids on the stuffed animal leashes. I missed you too. 

From Nerd 7:42 pm: haha   
From Nerd 7:43 pm: school is so boooorrrinnng without you there. 

To Nerd 7:44 pm: school is fucking boring no matter what nerd.   
To Nerd 7:44 pm: ill be there tomorrow B)

From Nerd 7:45 pm: YAY!   
From Nerd 7:46 pm: ill brb my dad is making me come into the kitchen. It smells like cake in this house ew

To Nerd 7:47 pm: I never understood why that was ever a problem

From Nerd 7:48: BETTY CROCKER IS EVIL AND YOU KNOW IT   
From Nerd 7:49 : anyway brb 

You shut off your phone and lay it down next to you. You take off your shades and place them on the nightstand at the end of your bed and flop back down. You keep looking at the photos on the wall your bed is against. Your trance gets interrupted by a knock on your door and you sit up in your bed.   
"Yeah."  
"Hey you want anything to eat I ordered pizza earlier." Dirk says through the door.   
"Yeah okay." You reply getting off of your bed and leaving your bedroom.   
You leave your bedroom closing the door behind you and walk into the rather small kitchen area, grabbing a slice of pizza and sitting down on the couch. Your brother says bye to his boyfriend at the door which comes out a lot more awkward than you thought it would. 

"Okay I'll see you tonight. Tomorrow. I mean soon? Later. I wait no good morning. Dammit good night." Dirk stumbles frantically. You roll your eyes at Jake's giggle before kissing your brother to stop him from spewing out anymore shit he has to say. That could go on for way too long, so embarrassing him should shut him up. Jake says good night and Dirk manages to as well, surprisingly. Dirk groans in embarrassment when Jake leaves.  
"That was painful to watch." You say from the couch.  
"Listen here buckaroo, at least I have a boyfriend." He replies.   
"Suprisingly."   
"What's with that new kid earlier. I thought you were dating John." Dirk teases.  
You choke on your pizza. "I'm not dating John."   
"Yeah he is kinda no homo." Dirk says while taking a seat on the couch. "I mean if this new kid likes you, and you think he's cute, I'd say go for him." Dirk suggests. "but if you want to keep trying for John for a few more years that's not my problem."   
"Yeah but this kid fucks everyone at school."  
"Well shit." Dirk pauses. "I mean he's gotta be good at it then."   
"Shut the fuck up." You joke, throwing one of the puppets on the floor at your snickering brother.   
"You don't even know if he likes me."  
"Did he do anything."  
"He uh." You pause. "Bought me clothes and gave me his number."   
Dirk glances at you, raising an eyebrow.   
"I'm going to my room you're not helping." You sigh in annoyance while walking towards your room.   
"Yeah go jack off somewhere else." Dirk laughs.   
"Dude no!" You slam your bedroom door and collapse onto your bed. You land uncomfortably on a crow plush you've had forever. Taking it out from underneath you, you toss it aside and sigh into your pillow.   
You turn on your side facing the wall of photos you curse yourself for looking at way too often. Honestly you don't even know why you try so hard for some dorky kid who's just your straight best friend.   
"Oh yeah by the way John dropped off your school and classwork you missed. I'm shoving the folder under the door." Dirk says whilst sticking a basic schoolwork folder under the door. "I don't need to catch you doing whatever you're doing in there."   
"I'm not jacking off Dirk."  
"That's what people jacking off always say." Dirk laughs.   
You're expressionless from that comment and you get up from your bed to retrieve one of John's blue folders he has. You open it up while sitting back down on your bed. It has a note in front of the work. 

 

Hey Dave, so I know you weren't at school for some reason. You had me really worried until you replied to my texts! Sorry for so many aha. Anyway I decided I might collect your school work from your classes. I'm pretty sure they knew you skipped class. One teacher called the office to ask if they were notified if you weren't going to be here. If no one at home picked up I think you're pretty toast! So if you do the homework maybe it won't be so bad? I don't know worth a shot. 

Ps. I know you won't do the homework so I gave you an answer sheet too. You're lucky you're friends with a "nerd." 

You feel hot after reading the note. It got even worse when you see that he did every single one of your assignments on separate sheets of paper. You notice something scribbled on the top of the pile of answer sheets.

Copy it down in your handwriting!!! Aha I know you won't turn my work in now because this is all in blue pen!! mwahahahaha 

"Why is he so cute." You mutter to yourself. You put the papers down and look over to the corner of your room. Noticing the shopping bags from earlier today, you get an idea. You pull out your phone and ignore the lame texts of John saying he's back from Betty Crocker hell and go to your new contact. 

To Karkat 8:56 pm: sup 

From Karkat 8:58 pm: wow look who FINALLY decides to text this number let me guess someone with the last name of STRIDER first name DAVE. 

From Karkat 8:59 pm: OBVIOUSLY it has to be you because only the DOUCHIEST of people text //sup// as their first greeting to someone who gives them their number! Wow CONGRATAFUCKINGLATIONS Karkat you truly are a genius!

To Karkat 9:00 pm: woah dude chill the fuck out I was busy okay. 

From Karkat 9:01 pm: so you couldn't spend one GODDAMN second of your precious time to at least send your douchey greeting. How long did that take you? 2 seconds?? 

From Karkat 9:02 pm: anyway what the fuck do you want now it's 9 pm. 

To Karkat 9:03 pm: 9 pm is like fucking daylight for me what the fuck. What are you 7 years old. 

From Karkat 9:04 pm: JOKES ON YOU I'M ALWAYS TIRED FUCKASS now what the hell do you want to say for my dreaded eyes to soon read off of the screen. 

To Karkat 9:05 pm: I just need your help with something 

From Karkat 9:06 pm: so let me get this straight. You want something from ME. When I've already bought you a SHIT ton of clothes so you can sit with us at lunch without me having to hide myself from the face of this Earth!!! You're lucky you can even sit with me at lunch and now YOU DAVE FU C K I NG STRIDER. Wants more help from me. 

To Karkat 9:07 pm: yes 

From Karkat 9:09 pm: alright FINE as long as it doesn't cost me anything. 

To Karkat 9:10 pm: cool okay. So you've basically fucked everyone in this school besides me and the excuse of freshman and sophomores. 

From Karkat 9:12 pm: well yeah and I haven't fucked one other kid but I really DON'T want to talk about that. Why are you telling me this??? 

To Karkat 9:13 pm: I need you to make people as attracted to me as people are to you. 

From Karkat 9:15 pm: why the hell should I do something that fucking stupid. Why do you want me for this?? 

To Karkat 9:16 pm: because everyone wants to mack on you for money. I just want someone to like me. Dude it's not that big of a deal alright? Deal or no deal man. The banker fucking called he's offering you a lame ass excuse for a check and I'm offering you as many forged hall way passes you need. Take the deal or go for another case. Narrowing down your large check into a shitty $1 bill.

From Karkat 9:20 pm: oh my fucking god shut the fuck up that was actually painful to read. I'll do it. Let me guess its the little nerdy shit on your wall. Yeah I know of him I think I can help you. 

To Karkat 9:21 pm: you know John? 

From Karkat 9:22 pm: OF HIM 

To Karkat 9:23 pm: okay how are you gonna help me 

From Karkat 9:24 pm: I'll talk to you about it tomorrow can I come by your apartment at about idk.... 6 am

To Karkat 9:25 pm: dude school starts at like 8 

From Karkat 9:27 pm: DO YOU WANT JOHN TO FUCK YOU OR NOT

To Karkat 9:28 pm: fine 

From Karkat 9:30 pm: Okay Good see you tomorrow morning dumbass I'm going to sleep 

You exit the conversation relieved it's over because honestly, Karkat is way too hard to talk to without setting him off. You see you still haven't read John's message and decide to text him back. 

From Nerd 8:24 pm: I'm back from Betty Crocker hell it was a nightmare!! 

To Nerd 9:32 pm: come on man what's wrong with cake.

He doesn't text back right away. Probably because it took you awhile to respond or he could be busy at the moment. You toss your phone next to you and the plush crow, and take John's folder at the edge of your twin bed. Propping it up against your legs, you start copying John's work onto your classwork. His handwriting is a little hard to read, but it's manageable. Halfway through your copying, your phone vibrates on your bed. You glance over at the lit screen and notice "Nerd" spelt out. Dropping everything, you reply instantly. 

From Nerd 9:47 pm: sorry I didn't reply right away!! I was playing a video game. Btw cake sucks when you live with it constantly. 

To Nerd 9:48 pm: aw man the shitty one. I told you that game sucks 

From Nerd 9:50 pm: Just because a gaming magazine says it's bad doesn't mean it is!!! 

To Nerd 9:51 pm: so you are playing that boring ass game.

From Nerd 9:52 pm: not right now I was just defending it hahaha. I'm playing crash bandicoot rn. 

To Nerd 9:53 pm: dude no 

From Nerd 9:56 pm: crash bandicoot is so sweet you haven't even played a lot of it!!! 

To Nerd 9:57 pm. If you like it it's probably really lame.

From Nerd 9:58 pm: you're lame!!! 

To Nerd 9:59 pm: haha I'm cool idk what you're talking about nerd 

From Nerd 10:03 pm: okay Dave that's it you don't know how //sweet// crash bandicoot is!!! You're coming over after school and playing it tomorrow. 

To Nerd 10:05 pm: Alright but you have to listen to all of my music on the walk to your house." 

From Nerd 10:08 pm: if it means you playing one of my video games and admitting you were wrong. Then you could also rap your terrible raps the whole way for all I care 

To Nerd 10:09 pm: I'll remember that while we're walking. 

From Nerd 10:10 pm: I'm starting to regret this.

To Nerd 10:12 pm: too late it's already been done. I'm writing down the rhymes as we speak. Each line cooler than the last. Blessing the goddamn ears of those who will soon listen to my god like rhymes from the heavens above. Which will now be bestowed upon you, the worthy subject and your soon to be blessed ears. Get ready dude. Get ready for the beat to be fucking dropped. 

From Nerd 10:15 pm: whatever you say Dave :B 

To Nerd 10:17 pm: I'm gonna Ollie Outie and get some sleep so those sick rhymes can drop it like it's hot. 

From Nerd 10:18 pm: Night dude. See you tomorrow!! :B 

To Nerd 10:20 pm: later dork 

You shut off your phone and plug it into the charger by your nightstand. You usually don't go to sleep this early, but reading six am on Karkat's text is enough to convince you to go to bed at a decent time. You also just really want tonight and the school day tomorrow to go by faster. Ever since John invited you over.


	2. Chapter 2

Dave get the fuck out of bed what the hell are you doing."  
You turn on your side ignoring the yelling voice in your room. Yelling voice? Wait. You hear a loud groan and a pillow suddenly comes out from under you and crashes down on your head.   
"What the hell." You sit up and rub your eyes with the back of your hand.   
"It Is six am you piece of shit get up." Your room suddenly becomes so fucking bright it's like you just died and saw the light. With the sound of blinds being forcefully pulled down instead of the singing of angels. You reach for your shades on the nightstand against the metal bars of your bed and place them on the bridge of your nose.   
"Karkat how the hell did you get in my room?"  
"Oh yeah by the way dude Karkat was buzzed up to our apartment I let him in." Dirk calls from his working area.   
"Yeah thanks for the heads up bro." You call back sarcastically.   
You look at Karkat standing in front of you with his arms folded across his chest. He's raising a thick eyebrow and staring at you like you have forgotten something.   
"Well are you gonna get up or do I have to drag you out?"   
"All right I'm up I'm up." You toss your white comforter with various of different card symbols printed on it, and fling your legs over so your feet touch your old, somewhat stained carpet. 

"Alright first things first." Karkat kneels down so he's eye level with you runs his hand through your bangs. Your face heats up a little and Karkat smirks while standing up again. "Yeah I'm gonna need you to wash your hair go take a shower and please for the love of god make it quick." 

You shrug and walk towards your bedroom door.  
"Hey jackass." Karkat calls after you. You turn around to face him and he throws a pile of clothes at you.   
"Wear these."   
You stare down at the pile of clothes that you managed to fumble into your arms, and shrug as you turn to exit the room. "Hey jackass." Karkat calls after you. You turn around to face him and he throws a pile of clothes at you.   
"Wear these."   
You stare down at the pile of clothes that you managed to fumble into your arms, and shrug as you turn to exit the room. 

\--------------------------------------  
After your about, fifteen minute shower that would've been longer if Karkat didn't start banging on the door. You dry off and pull on the clothes he threw at you earlier. You're wearing light blue ripped jeans along with a black shirt that cuts a little above the waist of your jeans so a small section of skin shows. Over your shirt, you tug on the red varsity jacket. The thought comes to your mind that he seems to really like this jacket on you. Karkat pounds on the bathroom door again breaking your stare away from the mirror.   
"Hurry up fuck ass do you need all fucking day holy shit even I don't take this long."   
You sigh and place your shades on the bridge of your nose before opening the door. He practically falls in and scowls at you.   
"Are you done?" Karkat asks. "I need to do the important details." Karkat says rummaging through your drawers before eventually finding a hair dryer. He plugs it in and raises an eyebrow at you.   
"Do you mind taking off your shades." He says over exaggerating the word mind.   
"Yeah man no one touches the shades."   
"Okay douchebag I need to see your face or I'm not helping you." Karkat threatens.   
"Dude I'm not taking them off." You fold your arms.   
"Fine." Karkat puts the hair dryer down and steps closer towards you until you're both only inches apart. Your stomach knots and you can feel your face get hotter as his hands trail slowly up and grab the arms of your shades, pulling them off of where they rested.   
"If you won't take them off than I will."   
Your eyes stay open a bit but are instantly closed once you've realized it has gotten brighter in the bathroom. Karkat steps back and chuckles.  
"You're so fucking easy."   
You can just feel that fact that you're probably flushed bright red, and you feel like a goddamn idiot. You keep your eyes shut and flinch at the sudden rush of loud hot air forced through your wet hair. Karkat begins to brush through it with a comb while drying it out. After a few minutes the dryer shuts off and Karkat brushes your hair over to the side like it usually is. He then pulls your hair and clamps it into some other hair tool and rolls your bangs inward.   
"Since when did I have a curling iron." You question. Not recalling ever even buying one.   
"I brought it with me." Karkat responds. "I'm not making your hair curly, but when you push it over it's kinda wavy and adds volume." He begins to explain.   
"Alright whatever that means."   
Karkat begins to spray your hair and it makes you cough from the scent. You open your eyes, he is looking through a black bag full of cosmetics. You watch him rummage through it with his eyebrows knitted together. When he finds what he's looking for he turns back around and you shut your eyes again. You sense him closer to your face and he begins to pluck at your eyebrows. You wince a bit at first, but manage to keep your cool. When he finishes, you feel him drawing on top of them.   
"You didn't remove my eyebrows did you?"   
"No idiot I just cleaned them up." He scoffs. "Okay I'm going to do your eyeliner please try not to flinch it's really fucking hard to do on other people." Karkat places a thumb on the corner of your eyes and begins to draw close to your eyelashes. Taking his thumb off of the corner, he wings the side. He does the other side but messes up.   
"Fuck." He says under his breath while wiping your eye with a cold makeup wipe and drying it off. He does it again and finds this time acceptable.   
"Okay open your eyes."   
You're hesitant at first, but you obey. You open your eyes and avoid eye contact. Karkat doesn't say anything. He just takes his weird makeup brush through your eyelashes with no comment.   
"Alright you're done." He says, putting his makeup back in the bag. He takes your shades off of the counter and puts them on your head. He leaves the bathroom to grab his stuff and you look at yourself in the mirror. He did a good job, your eyebrows now have arch to them so you can see them better with your shades on, and your eyeliner isn't over dramatic but it does make your face look nicer. You look really fucking gay, but pretty hot. You shut the light off in the bathroom when you leave and walk back to your bedroom. You find Karkat standing in front of your bed and staring at your wall of photos. He notices you in your room and faces you. "Wow you didn't put your stupid fucking shades back on." He grins. "I'm proud of you."   
You shrug and walk across your room to a dresser with a ton of junk on top of it. You swipe some trash off of it and eventually find what you're looking for. You take the contact case and put in the brown contact lenses. You can feel Karkat watching from behind. "What are you doing?"   
"Hiding the color of my eyes, what does it look like?" You reply monotoned.   
"I don't see the point since your eye color looks good on you." Karkat mutters.   
You ignore the comment and grab your school bag. Karkat follows as you exit your bedroom and into your living room. Your brother, watching cartoons and eating cereal, notices you but doesn't look away from the screen. You walk past him and he makes a comment as you pass by.   
"So ya going for a douchebag look today."   
"Yeah I felt very influenced by you today so I thought I'd give it a try." You reply back, grabbing your key to the apartment off of the counter. Karkat gives a breathy laugh to your response and follows behind as you exit the door. 

\------------------------------------------  
You're in Karkat's car. Parked out in front of the school, and you're currently listening to his rules you need to follow.   
"Okay don't stay too close to me, but walk next to me at all times." He begins. "You must sit with us at lunch and also be bitchy. The more you are the better."   
"Uh okay." You shrug as you pull the handle of the car door to get out.   
"Also." Karkat begins, and you stop opening the door to glance at him.   
"Keep the straight face you do." Karkat says and gets out of the car.  
You both close the car doors and Karkat locks it as you walk towards the school entrance. The sun hurts your eyes a bit, but you keep your shades off. People look at you as you walk by, and you respond to them with a glare or a raise of your eyebrow. When you both walk in the school, you part ways without a word as you go to your lockers. You put in the combination of your lock and yank on it to pull it open. You glance over to your right to see John a couple of lockers down struggling with his lock. You grab what you need out of your locker and slam it shut, locking it again. You walk over to John who's still struggling, and ends up slamming his head on his locker and keeping it there in defeat.   
"Woah dude don't hurt yourself." You chuckle. John jumps in shock and looks up at you.   
He pauses for a moment. "Dave?"   
"Yeah man it's me who'd ya think." You roll your eyes and smile slightly. "Need any help?" You ask. "Seems like this is some kind of top secret vault in the home of a nineteen twenties gangster leader."   
John smiles and laughs at your analogy. His face is noticeably red and he nods to your offer. "Yeah I need help." He says rubbing the back of his neck.   
"What's the combination?" You ask grabbing the lock and glancing at him. John is staring up at you and snaps out of it.  
"35 25 12." John replies suddenly.   
You turn the lock accordingly and you get the combination right on your first try.  
"There ya go nerd." You say, backing away from the unlocked locker.  
"Thanks." He smiles. John grabs his books out of his locker and shuts the door. "By the way Dave." He begins. "You aren't wearing your shades like usual."  
"Oh sorry I forgot they were off." You give a breathy laugh. John raises an eyebrow and steps closer to you. Going on the tips of his toes, he squints closely at your face and you can feel it heat up.   
"What are you doing."   
"Looking at your eyes." John smiles. "I've never seen them before."  
You gaze over John's pretty face as he stares into your eyes. His thick black glasses in front of his deep blue eyes, resting on his nose dusted with light freckles spreading on his light brown face, a beauty spot at the corner of his eye. He backs away and your daze is broken.  
"You also decided to change into a different outfit for once." He snickers. You snap out of it and playfully punch John in the shoulder and laugh.  
"Shut up dude."   
"No you look nice." He giggles, pushing up his glasses that slipped off of his nose.   
"I'll see you in class and after school!" John waves while walking to class.   
\-------------------------------------------------------  
You walk along the pavement with John as he leads the way to his house. The air has become cooler throughout the day, and the sunny morning has turned into a cloudier evening. John is trying to copy your footstep timing as you walk, but it gets interrupted whenever you start rapping like you promised over text.   
"Dave stop rapping I didn't think you would actually do it please no." John laughs.  
"No way dude this is a blissful caressing sound to your ears."   
"They're bleeding not caressed."   
You laugh louder than usual causing you to cover your mouth, and it makes John smile. When you turn into his neighborhood. The streets are lined with trees in front of every house. They don't even have garages in the front, they are all in the back. The streets are clear with no cars, and the trees create a shaded, mystical ambiance to the neighborhood. The pavement turns to sectioned stone and once in awhile a fancy park lamp appears. You can just sense the suburban more than any other neighborhood you've been in. You can feel and taste the white privilege. John leads you to his house, similar to the others, and unlocks the door. The door opens and closes with ease behind the both of you. As soon as you walk in, cake aroma hits you like a wave of sweetness and sugar. John throws his keys into a dish with the others, and drops his bag down by the door. When you walk in, it leads into a section to the right with a grand piano and fireplace. Or an entrance towards the living room area. John leads you up the stairs to the left of the living room entrance where his room is. Unlike his clean house, his room is a bit of a mess. Video games and clothes scattered on the floor, along with homework pages all on his desk and nightstand. He has sticky note reminders all over his walls along with movie posters. Specifically of Con Air. What grabs your attention, is the fact that he puts all of the polaroid pictures you give him on his walls as well. Pictures of you and him, random scenery pictures you take, and also pictures of yourself you've given to him as a joke. You've been to his house before, and everything else is the same besides those pictures. You've just recently become interested in photography and decided to give them to John. You didn't think he'd actually put them up. Your face starts heating up, it gets worse when you notice the bunny from con air you gave him on his recent birthday resting in his messy bed. Your face is probably bright red and you didn't even notice John was talking to you.  
"Dave." John repeats.   
You break away from your trance and look at him.   
"Oh yeah dude what's up I was just staring at." You pause. "Nicolas Cage."   
"About time you recognize his beauty." John giggles and waves you to sit beside him on his bed. You sit next to him flustered, and he shoves a controller in your hands.  
"I didn't forget about Crash Bandicoot!" John smiles. "I'm still going to prove my point of how sweet this game actually is!" 

 

You try to focus yourself on the little character named Crash, who just got his calm lifestyle interrupted again by some scientist dude. Now, you're trying to get your bandicoot furry out of these situations. Well, you would have succeeded a lot quicker but John is intensely watching every move you make, making you nervous as fuck. 

"Man Dave you really suck at this." John laughs.   
"Shut the fuck up dude I know what I'm doing." You squint your eyes at the screen, your contacts are starting to hurt and you really miss wearing your shades instead. Those things are fucking prescription and cool as heck.   
"Shit." You cuss as crash rams into a TNT crate.  
"Yeah you're so good at this." John teases, dragging out the word "so."  
You crash into another damaging crate and John falls back on his bed in annoyance. You toss the controller aside and fall down next to him sighing.   
"Yeah you're better at this game than I am and I hate to admit that." You laugh lightly.   
"Yeah let a real master show you how it's done!" John replies sitting up. He reaches across you for the controller and your face flushes red. Grabbing the controller, he continues your game you started. You watch him play from the spot of the bed you're laying on. His tongue is sticking out like he does when he concentrates, and he's going through the game with ease.   
"I'm already kicking your ass at this!" John teases. You sit up and nudge him in the shoulder, causing him to mess up.   
"Hey!" John exclaims while still continuing to play. You smirk and stand in front of him with your hands on your hips.  
"Dave!" John whines while trying to look around you. You shift to walk in front of wherever he looks with a smug grin across your face.   
"Not so great now huh." You laugh.   
"Not cool!" John groans while still attempting to play.   
"Okay okay." You laugh and move out of the way to sit back on his bed. You scoot back on his bed and start to move behind him. Reaching your arms around him,you snatch the controller out of his hands and lift it up and over his head.   
"Dave!" John exclaims turning around to face you. "I was just about to get that power up!"   
You raise an eyebrow and hold it above your head out of his reach. John tries to reach for it, and you get off of his bed. Standing on his bedroom floor, you hold the controller above your head and he gets up off of the bed after you.   
"Come on Dave I'm already really short as it is!" He complains jumping up and reaching for the controller.   
"No way dude you gotta jump for it." You laugh. Moving around the room, John follows, still trying to reach for it and failing to succeed.   
"Dude cut it out!" John begins to laugh.   
He jumps for it one more time and falls against you. You land on the bedroom floor and John falls on top of you. You both groan from impact with the floor. However, the carpet did make the fall not as painful. John sits up still on top of you. You both look like you're in some shitty romance anime that Dirk watches. Where the guy accidentally falls on the other guy and now he has him trapped underneath him, as he looks down at the dude with his arms on either side. Well yeah that's basically what John was doing and he isn't even phased by it. His hair is a mess (more than usual) and his glasses are askew on his face, but he just smiles and takes the controller that's still in your frozen hand. Your face feels hot and you think your shades fell off your head somewhere in the process. You stare at John's smiling face in frozen shock and think about how easy it would be to just kiss him right now. His bangs a mess in front of his tanned face covered with dark freckles. His glasses crooked on the bridge of his nose in front of a pair of deep blue eyes. It would be so fucking easy to kiss that grin of blue braces smiling down at you. You won't do it of course. No matter how easy it would be. You do regret not doing it when he gets off of you and offers a hand to help you off the ground. Sometimes you wish you could do it. Just to try and see what his reaction would be to it. Only if you could turn back time right before you did it. When the reaction isn't how you imagined. You take his hand and he helps you up off of the ground. Grabbing your shades off of the floor, you put them back on top of your head. 

You're both back on his bed, and John's back to playing his game again. You sit beside him and watch him play. Your eyes start to burn more and you decide it's probably the right time to remove your eye contacts.   
"I'll be right back I'm gonna go to the bathroom."   
"Okay." John mutters while still concentrating. You grab a spare lens case out of your back pack and hope John has solution for contact lenses. If he even wears contact lenses.   
You walk into his rather rich person looking bathroom down the hall and place your open lens case on the counter. You look through some cabinets to see if he has any solution. He actually happens to have a bottle in his medicine cabinet. You figure contact lenses are too much of a hassle for him, and you understand completely. You remove one of your lenses and rinse it with the solution. Placing it in the now saline filled container, you remove your other lens as well and do the same. Closing the case, you look in the mirror at your normal eye color. Uncomfortable with them, you remove your shades from your head, and place them back on the bridge of your nose. Shutting of the light, you exit the bathroom and go back into John's room. He's now watching a movie that looks rather familiar but you can't put your finger on it.   
"What are you watching?" You ask standing by the tv and looking at the screen.   
"Ghost rider!" John beams. "I believe I've shown you it before!"   
"You probably have." You laugh and take back your seat next to John.   
You look around John's room again and notice a glass case you haven't seen before.  
"What's that?" You ask nodding towards the case.   
"Oh man!" John exclaims. "I forgot to show you Casey!" John jumps up from his bed in excitement and turns on the blue light to the terrarium. Inside is a little yellow salamander sitting on a rock in the middle of the water.   
"Casey?" You raise an eyebrow while walking towards the glass case.   
"Yes!" He confirms. "Like in Con Air!"   
"I fucking knew it." You laugh.   
John takes Casey out of the terrarium and holds her up to you.   
"Would you like to see!" He smiles. "Go on you can hold her if you want!"  
You carefully pick up the salamander from John and she starts licking you. You giggle while looking down at the lizard.   
"She's rad I love her she's my main bro now." You smile while handing it back to John. John's face is dusted pink and he smiles back at you. He takes the salamander and puts it back in its case. He goes and sits back on his bed to watch his cursed movie and you follow. The sun goes down as the movie continues to play. It's around eight o clock by the time it's over and you insist that you play the next. Looking through his shelf of movies you find the perfect one.   
"Alright dude we are watching Shrek Two you better be fucking ready." You say pulling out the movie case.   
John groans and falls back on his bed to be extra dramatic.   
"Hey it's either this or Bee Movie."   
"I'm good." John sits up quickly.   
"Then this is the one." You grin putting the movie in the DVD player.   
You sit back on the bed with John, your legs touching and John doesn't even bother to notice.   
The movie is a lot longer than you remember. It feels as if it's been going on for hours but it's not even close to being done. Shrek was barely turned into a human ten minutes ago. You're starting to feel tired and staring at a screen for hours, along with your shades fucking with you, hurts the shit out of your eyes. You rest your eyes for a bit and you feel yourself fall against John.   
"Are you okay dude?" John nudges you. You sit back up again and rub your eyes under your shades.   
"Yeah I'm fine." You yawn and lie down on John's lap.   
John jumps in shock but relaxes. You feel him play and comb through your bangs for a bit, but you black out after two minutes. 

\---------------------------------------  
You open your eyes slowly to the painfully bright room. You're confused for a moment, looking up at the sticker stars on the ceiling and the posters on the walls. Shit. You never went home. You sit up to see that you were sleeping on John's lap but he just fell back on his bed eventually. His glasses are still on his face. Dork. You rub your eyes and your shades aren't there. You look around to find them resting on the nightstand near the bed. You reach over John and grab your shades to place them back on the bridge of your nose. You take your phone out of your pocket, which is now down to thirty percent since you didn't charge it, and check the time.   
"Shit." You cuss when you see the numbers light up.   
"John!" You shout while attempting to shake him awake. He just groans in response . "Dude wake the fuck up!" You yell while throwing a pillow down on him.   
"I'm up I'm up." John groans rubbing his eyes and sitting up on his bed.   
"We're late! Why didn't you set an alarm?" You complain.   
"I don't know dude I barely remember falling asleep." John yawns.   
"I'm so fucked."  
"It's just school Dave since when did you care." John mumbles.   
"I don't." You laugh. "Okay I'll just check my phone maybe it won't be so bad."

2 missed calls from WEEB  
30 missed texts from Karkat   
1 new voice mail.   
"Alright." You sigh entering the passcode to your phone. You first play back the voicemail and put the phone up to your ear to listen.

"Hey man, so this tiny angry kid is back and he's like, really fucking pissed that you're not here. Also call me back, if you don't I gotta call the police, dude don't make me do that. Later."   
You call Dirk back and wait for it to ring for a bit. He picks up rather quick.   
"Finally you called. Where are you?"   
"I was at John's house and fell asleep."   
"Hell yeah dude finally convinced that kid that he is homo."  
"Dude no I just fell asleep."   
"Right fell asleep."   
You can hear the air quotes.  
"Karkat came by?"   
"Yeah. He's so loud, I had no idea what he wanted so I offered cereal. Uh that didn't go well. In fact, I think he got angrier."   
You sigh.  
"Alright I gotta go to school I'm late."   
"I'm going back to bed. Later."   
The call ends and you choose to ignore Karkat's texts for now. You shove your phone back in your pocket and run a hand through your messy hair.   
"We gotta hurry man."   
"Alright fine." John says getting off of his bed.   
"Fuck." You cuss. "I can't wear the exact same thing as yesterday Karkat would kill me." You groan realizing that you're still in the same exact outfit.   
"Just replace your jacket with this." John says taking his blue zip up hoodie off one arm at a time and throwing it at you. "Now you're wearing a black shirt and jeans, but the hoodie makes the outfit look different!" John grins, proud of his idea.   
You raise an eyebrow and put on the hoodie. It's big on John, but it fits you perfectly. It smells like him, making your face feel hot. You'll never want to take this off


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo sorry for this being kinda late. I'm busy as hell and high school sucks y'all. Here's this, it's kinda short but I'll make sure to update again soon B)

You both rush out of the house, John locking the door behind you. You're going to be even more late to school since John's dad goes to work in the morning and takes the car. You both do your best to sonic your way over to the hell hole that is school in time for second period. John doesn't live that far, but way too far to run in your opinion. You can barely make it from the living room to your bedroom in your tiny ass apartment. You also know for a fact that John can barely make it up his stairs without getting out of breath. You eventually make it to school and slide into the main hallway of the front office. In unison, you both lean over trying to catch your breath without passing out. Earning annoyed stares from teachers and councilors, you ask for a late pass in between breaths. The front desk lady asks for your names and gives you passes to class notifying that you're tardy. You ignore her reminder that a few more tardies will result in on campus suspension, and walk with John to class.

"At least we're in time for second period." John grins. "That's not too bad!" 

"I'd honestly like to miss another class just so the day is shorter." You laugh. 

"You do have a point." John giggles. "I guess I'll see you 3rd period." John replies as you reach your classroom door.

You wave goodbye to your friend as he walks backwards to his classroom smiling at you, saluting with two fingers at his temple. You roll your eyes behind your shades and knock on the door. A kid opens the door for you, and you hand the tardy slip to your teacher. The teacher takes it silently and nods towards your seat without breaking the lesson. You take your seat at the back of the room and check your phone. You have tons of unread messages from Karkat.

From Karkat: where the fuck are you. Even your brother doesn't know.

From Karkat: look I didn't drive ALL THE WAY HERE. For *NOTHING* Get your flat ass over here fuck train.

From Karkat: LISTEN you piece of shit. I'm going to school. Meet me by the bathrooms third period. I promise I won't kill you no matter how much I fucking want to.

From Karkat: you want me to help you but you're so goddamn difficult. Honestly why am I even bothering with this shit. Like I fucking care if you fuck Egbert or not.

You sigh and turn off your phone. Well, at least he said he wouldn't kill you. You rest your cheek in the palm of your hand and watch the clock for the remainder of the period. As soon as the bell rings, you're the first one out of there. Rushing over to the bathrooms, you nearly run into Karkat in front of the restroom door as you maneuver around the crowd of high schoolers.  
"Finally you're here Jesus fuck I thought you died." Karkat begins, but pauses and eyes you up and down.  
"What the fuck happened to you?"  
You shrug, thinking it couldn't be that bad. Karkat grabs you by the wrist and drags you into the bathroom. Standing you in front of the sink, you notice your hair is an obscure mess, your shades are crooked (which you didn't even notice) and John's jacket is falling off one of your shoulders.  
"You look like you actually fucked someone last night but that's impossible since I know you'd never-" Karkat pauses.  
"Since when the fuck did you own blue?" Karkat asks. "Wait a minute I've seen this jacket before. Egbert wears it all the time." Karkat smirks.  
"Well aren't you master of observation." You scoff. 

Karkat laughs, swiping his hands together as if he's cleaning off dust and wipes off his jeans. "Guess my work here is done."  
"Woah Karkat no that didn't happen." You say lifting your hands up in defense.  
Karkat raises an eyebrow. "Then why the fuck are you wearing his jacket?"  
"I accidentally fell asleep at his place and we were late to school."  
Placing his hands on his hips, Karkat laughs. "Yeah explains why you look like you've crawled out of a dumpster."  
You roll your eyes behind your shades.  
Karkat walks closer to you and takes off your aviators. He looks disgusted at the sight of your face.  
"Yeah no I'm fixing this your eyeliner is smudged and you look fucking awful. My eyes are bleeding."  
Karkat grabs his makeup out of his messenger bag along with a makeup wipe. He begins to clean off your makeup and dry it off with a tissue paper. You try avoid eye contact by shifting your eyes anywhere but his . He has to stand on his toes in order to reach your eyes.  
"You're so fucking short dude."  
"Why don't you shut your goddamn mouth." Karkat grumbles.  
You chuckle and Karkat's cheeks turn slightly pink. He continues to concentrate on winging your eyeliner and backs away when he finishes.  
"There now you don't look too bad." He says while reaching for a comb in his bag. He pulls it out and runs it through your hair, neatly styling it up and untangling it. As soon as he finishes he places your shades on your head and puts the comb back in his bag.     
You shift your backpack over to the front pouch and retrieve your eye contacts. Going up to the bathroom mirror, you place your contacts in one at a time to conceal the redness of your eyes to a more natural brown. You succeed at not messing up the eyeliner, since that would actually make Karkat explode. You both exit the bathroom and realize that the bell rang nearly 10 minutes ago. Sighing, you grab two blank hall passes from the front of your back pack and sign each of them perfectly. Each pass excusing the two of you from being late. You hand one over to Karkat, and walk towards the direction of your next class. You hear Karkat mumble a thanks and walk off in the opposite direction.

You enter your third period class and hand the teacher the hall pass. She acknowledges it and throws it in the trash. You take your seat next to John and glance over at him scribbling random doodles in his notebook. You smile lightly and quickly draw a sweet bro on a small piece of paper and fold it up into a tiny square. You toss it on his desk and he carefully unfolds the paper. Noticing right away it's sweet bro, he smiles with his blue braces showing. He looks over and mouths a thank you and rolls his eyes as he looks back down at his desk. He puts it in the front plastic sleeve of his binder which you notice, has tons of your random drawings you give him. He hasn't thrown away a single one. Your face feels hot as you see some you've drawn from the first few days of school and some from last year as well. You look down at your desk, placing your shades over your eyes. The lecture goes on for what feels like years and you can't help but look at John consistently from behind your aviators. At this point, his head is on his desk resting in his arms. Sleeping halfway through class as usual, but still maintains to get good grades. God you'd sell your soul to have that kind of skill. He's actually sleeping and his glasses are pushed since he's laying his head on his side. He's complained about this to you multiple times about why he hates having glasses. You always suggest contacts but he replies with "I'm too scared of putting things in my eyes," every single time. 

The bell rings signifying that it's time for lunch, and you laugh at John's horrified awakening from the sound of the loud bell. 

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." You smirk.

"Shut up Dave I was resting my eyes not sleeping." John embarrassly lies." 

"Yeah and I was paying attention in class." You chuckle. "Come on dude lunch is practically two minutes compared to how long class is." 

John rolls his eyes and grabs his things as he follows you out the door. 

Inside the cafeteria, you walk with John but notice Karkat waving you over to his table. 

You nudge John. "Hey I gotta sit with Karkat today." You notice John's face become disappointed real quick. "Don't give me that look I'll sit with you tomorrow I promise." You smile, pushing your shades up to the top of you head and give him a wink. 

He smiles and playfully punches you in the shoulder. "Fine dude go but don't forget about me tomorrow." 

You nod and wave once instead of repeatedly, in a cool fashion and walk over towards Karkat. Sitting down next to him, you notice the other people also seated at the table. A girl with tinted red glasses is sitting across from you. She grins at you as you sit down. Next to her is a girl with black and blue hair with shades similar to yours. However, one lens is missing. Also seated at the table, is a kid with black messy hair who seems to be wearing pajama bottoms to school. Next to him is a kid seated in a wheel chair with hair shaved on both sides leaving a longer middle flopping over. Lastly, the kid you saw earlier wearing 3D looking glasses is here as well. Except he won't stop arguing with some hipster looking kid who constantly studders his w's. 

"Hey whats your name?" The girl across from you asks. 

"Dave." You reply. 

"Dave." She repeats with a grin. "I'm Terezi." 

"Sup." 

"What are you some kind of cool kid." She laughs obnoxiously loud. "You sure smell like one." 

"Smell?" You ask. 

"Do you have a picture of yourself?" She grins. 

"Uh." You pause.

"Just give me a picture of yourself cool kid." Terezi smirks. 

You take your phone out of your pocket and bring up a picture of yourself. You caustiously hand it over to her and she snatches it out of your hand. Wiping off the screen with her shirt, she then licks the screen. 

"You taste like cherry coolaid." She grins. 

Extremely uncomfortable, you take your phone she hands back and wipe off the screen. 

"Excuse Terezi she's blind and uses her other senses instead of sight." Karkat explains while rolling his eyes. 

"Dammit Karkat I was going to see how long I could mess with Dave! You're no fun!" She cackles. 

"So you're the new motherfucker hangin with us." The kid in pajama pants speaks up. He sounds like he's stoned or drunk. Probably both. 

"My names Gamzee." 

"Dave." You reply. 

"Come on Tavbro introduce yourself." He says nudging the kid seated in the wheelchair. 

"I-uh." He stutters. "I'd uh.. rather not introduce myself thanks.." He responds shyly. 

"Come on Tavbro no need to be rude when introducing a motherfuckin new best friend." Gamzee grins. "Or should I motherfuckin introduce yourself for you."

"Uh..my names Tavros." He smiles awkwardly. "Nice..to uh..meet you I guess..."

"Aww are you all shy little pupa?" The girl with blue highlights laughs. "Here's a better introduction for you. Name is Vriska but don't get too comfortable with me yet." She grins. 

"What the fuck do you eat all day you actually smell like a rotting fish." The kid with 3D glasses and a lisp shouts.

"Oh yeah well at least I don't wear stupid 3D glasses to school what are you in elementary school?" 

"Fuck off!" 

"Why don't you fuck off?" 

"Hipster!" 

"Bee fucker!" 

"I just like bees asshole they are going endangered you piece of shit!" 

"The hipster looking kid is named Eridan and the kid with 3D glasses is Sollux. Excuse their fighting it will end soon. I fucking hope." Karkat mutters.

"Sorry KK this isn't ending until this asshole shuts the fuck up.

"Oh you want me to shut the fuck up? How about you shut the fuck up!" 

"Make me asshole." Sollux laughs while standing up. 

"Wonderful friends you got." You say leaning over so Karkat can hear. 

Karkat sighs, "Fucking kill me." 


End file.
